Torment

I didn't know Grandma Dani well, I was just a kid when I last saw her, but I've heard the stories, the fierce lioness that raised three kids, six grandkids, all while building up a non-profit. The idea that she's just... Gone... It's hard to comprehend.

As we buckle up our seatbelts for a landing my Mum's instructions ring in my head: "Me and your Mama need to stay behind a bit longer, we need to organise some things on this end. You'll fly ahead and stay with your Aunt Rouge until we can meet you there... Look after each other. Promise?"

Yeah, I promised, but damn if I'm not already regretting it as Rosie's moody expression takes its toll on my morale.

"You know, if the plane crashes your face'll look like that forever." I warn her, receiving only a sneer in response. Finally the plane touches down and we begin to make our way off... Shit it's cold here, like when we'd go and visit family in Paris.

Setting off towards baggage claim, my mind begins to wonder about our aunt. We've never really crossed paths, her and Mum are apparently pretty close, makes sense for twins I guess, all I know is she's the one that created the treatment that led to our birth, and of our cousin. Hopefully she's not overbearing or anything, I really can't be asked with a million different house rules to ignore.

Finally, after retrieving our bags, we exit out until we see...

"Mum?" Rosie blurts out. The woman in front of us is truly a mirror of our Mum, even that hazy eye make-up is the same. The only differences I can see are streaks of black in her hair, and her outfit, she looks like a rocker from the late two-thousands with a punk band t-shirt and leather trousers.

"Not quite, but there's no shame in missing a fifty-fifty shot." Aunt Rouge smirks at us. "Shit, look at you, all your limbs and everything, I do damn good work." She decides, looking between us.

Poppy seems in awe of our new guardian. "You're like Mum but as a supermodel." She coos, much to the delight of our aunt, who tussles her hair.

"Well, you're my new favourite." She smiles at my sister. "Anyway, time's wasting, we've still got a drive ahead of us. Come along kids." She orders nonchalantly as she begins to lead us out of the airport.

"We're eighteen, not kids." I correct her as we leave.

"Did I fucking stutter?" Aunt Rouge laughs.

Guess we'll always be kids to them.

*

The car journey home is surreal, and not just because we're driving on the other side of the road to what I'm used to. Rouge (She insisted we drop the aunt part) tells us all sorts of stories about growing in Tyneland, going to school, her and Mum getting into trouble... It almost makes me excited. Maybe there'll be some fun to be had here. After a long drive we arrive at an unsuspecting house, after all the stories I was expecting some kind of palace.

"Home, sweet home." Rouge exhales wistfully. I guess coming here is hard for her too, it's bad for us and we barely knew our grandmother.

"Are you okay?" Rosie asks, placing a hand on Rouge's shoulder.

"Holy shit, you can talk? You were so quiet, I thought I'd fucked up the genome and you were born without a tongue." She replies, forcing a smile, causing Rosie to scowl. "Yeah, I'm okay, it's just been a while, go ahead and go in, Trish and Marie are already inside." She explains, directing us towards the front door.

I take the lead, dragging my suitcase up to the front door and cautiously opening it. The sight in front of me is almost eerie, a set of stairs leads to the upper floor, and at the end of the hallway an open door leads into the kitchen, where I can hear singing in a language I don't recognise.

Hesitantly, I lead my siblings through and am greeted with a Hell of a sight. The woman there is a golden-skinned, chestnut-haired goddess, wearing a tank top and the shortest shorts I've ever seen, giving a tantalising view of her backside as she sings to herself at the stove. Sadly the view is interrupted when Poppy squeaks in surprise, causing the woman to turn towards us.

"Oh hey! Sorry, I didn't see you there, I take it your the Monroe kids?" She smiles warmly to us as I try desperately not to look like I was starting at her arse. "I'm Trish, I guess that makes me your aunt? Damn, makes me sound old. Come in, have a seat, food's almost ready."

Poppy and I gladly sit down, I won't lie, I'm starving, Rosie has other priorities. "Do you know where the bathroom is?" She asks Trish blankly.

"Sure, top of the stairs first door on the left." She responds cheerfully, doesn't even seem like Rosie's angst can get her down, who sullenly makes her exit. "So, come on, what's going on with you guys, how're you finding the country?" She asks us.

"Cold." I blurt out before I even think about it. This begs the question, how is she okay in such a skimpy outfit?

Trish cackles at my statement. "Yeah, don't worry, you get used to it. I enjoy it at this point, reminds me of the time me and Rouge went skinny di-"

"Trish!" A loud voice interrupts her as Rouge finally joins us in the kitchen. "How about we don't scar our Niece and Nephew on the first day?" I don't know about scar, but I'm definitely curious about the details of that story. My brain knows both of these women are forty, but watching them like this, they seem barely older than us in a lot of ways.

Poppy finally gathers up the courage to speak. "Excuse me, Rouge? Can I ask where we're all sleeping tonight?" She requests quietly.

Rouge grins at my sister's shyness. "Definitely a little Scarlet." She quips to Trish before turning back to us. "Well, Rufus will be in your Uncle Jasper's old room, we'll be in Grandma's room, that leaves two between the three of you, so you and your sister might have to share for a bit."

Oh yeah, she mentioned our cousin was here. "That's okay, it'll be like a sleepover!" Poppy responds enthusiastically. "Are we at the school around the corner?"

"Yeah, our old school, it was short notice, but I'm pretty close with the Headmistress, so we worked it out." Rouge answers smugly, looking back to Trish, who blows a kiss to her wife.

"Wait, you're the head?" I ask Trish, sounding more surprised than I should. That probably sounded rude.

"Damn right, kiddo, there's nobody finer!" She answers. "Could one of you two grab Marie and tell her dinner's ready? She should be in the second room on the right upstairs."

I look to Poppy, but she's far too enamoured with her new idols to consider leaving, so I volunteer, exiting the kitchen and making my way up the stairs toward the room Trish mentioned, and knocking...

Then knocking again when I don't get an answer...

Fuck it, I'm going in. I open the door to find a dark room, illuminated only by the PC monitor on the desk, shining on the skinny girl sat before it. She has Trish's tan skin, but her hair is much darker and cut to shoulder-length like Rouge's, with green eyes that match my own. It's at this point I realise she hasn't even noticed me, too absorbed in the screen and the headset covering her ears.

I calmly draw closer and closer, trying to wave my hand in her line of vision, but she doesn't seem to notice-

"Did you want something, or are you just waving?" She suddenly asks me, not looking away from the screen.

"Oh, erm... Trish wanted me to let you know that dinner's ready." I answer honestly, though, frankly, I have a million other questions, like how is she crushing this game so hard?

"That's fine, I'll be a few minutes. Anything else?" She replies calmly.

Is this girl a robot or something? "Erm, I'm Rufus, your cousin?" I declare, trying to trigger some kind of emotive response.

"Great. Do you have a speech impediment or something? You start every sentence with 'erm', it's weird." She retorts without missing a beat.

A smart man knows when he's outmatched. "I'll see you downstairs." I state as I take my leave, admitting defeat in the process. As awkward as that was... There's one thing I do know about the next year of my life...

I definitely won't be bored!